


pour your heart in music

by ZionPhoenix



Series: Domestic Immortals and their Shenanigans [17]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Shanties, yes that one viral tiktok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28762233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZionPhoenix/pseuds/ZionPhoenix
Summary: A video of what seems to be a TikTok compilation pops up on her feed and she pauses the song currently playing, and opens the video instead. She sees and hears Nicky pausing what he's doing, head tilted sideways. And then he starts humming along again, this time nodding his head along to the beat.ORThe team sings shanties.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Domestic Immortals and their Shenanigans [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863277
Comments: 13
Kudos: 106





	pour your heart in music

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, I have managed to finish another piece! I had writer's block for the most part of the past few weeks, but I'm getting better.
> 
> So, this song has been stuck in my head, and I couldn't help myself but to write fanfiction about it. I'm actually surprised no one else has done this already. There'll be links to youtube for all the different versions and videos I'm referencing.
> 
> As always, this is un-betaed, let me know if you find any mistakes.
> 
> Enjoy!

**October 2020**

Once it became clear that the pandemic would probably go one for a little while longer, the team decided to isolate together, to avoid having to isolate Andy from them. They wouldn't know if they caught the virus and could inadvertently infect her, and no one wanted to take the risk. And so they sequestered themselves to a small house in the middle of a forest in Greece. Well, not the middle, but the property is almost completely surrounded by trees, and they are a few kilometres away from the next town. When they first arrived, they stocked up on everything for as long which they could fit into the pantry and freezer (which turned out to be a month to six weeks), and Nicky and Joe resurrected the vegetable garden behind the house. 

They've been here for almost two months, and things are going well. Joe and Andy are outside sparring, after Andy had thrown a stick at Joe and told him to meet her in the garden. Nicky is watching them from the kitchen, the sounds of their sticks clashing loud enough for Nile to hear from the living room, due to the open floor plan of the ground floor. Nile has been practising her knitting, but is taking a break and spending it on her phone, while one of her playlists is playing in the background over the bluetooth speaker she insisted on buying. She can hear Nicky humming along to the songs as he works on their lunch.

* * *

A few months into her immortality she had asked them why they almost never played background music themselves, but obviously enjoyed it when she did. "We're still not used it," Nicky had replied, "to be able to have it playing in the background while we do something other than dancing or socialising." After that, Nile made it her personal mission to have a bluetooth system in every safehouse, in addition to reorganising the books. She's finished the shelves in this house within two weeks.

* * *

A video of what seems to be a TikTok compilation pops up on her feed and she pauses the song currently playing, and opens the video instead. She sees and hears Nicky pausing what he's doing, head tilted sideways. And then he starts humming along again, this time nodding his head along to the beat. Nile briefly wonders if they were pirates at one point or another, and then continues down the rabbit hole of this particular song. She quickly finds the original video that started it all, and plays it. When the chorus starts, Nicky sings along, surprising Nile as she had rarely heard him sing. He surprises her again, when he sings the stanzas as well, becoming louder and louder. With the next chorus, she can hear Joe and Andy join in through the open kitchen window, the sounds of the their sparring having stopped.

Because of TikTok the song is cut short, ending after three stanzas, and Nile wants to replay the video, or another version, but Nicky just continues singing, after a short hesitation.

"No line was cut, no whale was freed,

An' the captain's mind was not on greed!

But he belonged to the Whaleman's creed

She took that ship in tow."

Nile listens to the new stanza with interest, it seems he really knew this song already.

"For forty days or even more,

the line went slack then tight once more,

All boats were lost, there were only four

and still that whale did go."

Joe and Andy seem to be familiar with it as well, joining in for the next stanza, as well for the last one.

"As far as I've heard, the fight's still on,

The line's not cut, and the whale's not gone!

The Wellerman makes his regular call

to encourage the captain, crew and all!"

They end the song with another chorus, and Nile claps for them when they finish. "Where did you find this, Nile? This song is almost 200 years old." Nicky asks.

"It's going viral right now. Someone posted a video of himself singing it, wait a second, that's [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji1ODjzKn6E)," she starts playing the video again, and turns her phone so the others, who have sat down on the couch, can all see it. When it ends she continues, "and then others joined him, creating video chains of them all singing the same song. [This one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8QpbqDT7tE) is another popular one," she shows them another video, "and then someone put some of them together, [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpsAIEO-IWg)," and another video. "I think someone even made a remix. And a lot of people want a full version of the song by all of them, and especially the original poster, because the app cuts videos off after a minute."

"Can you play the second video again?" Joe asks, and she does. The others all close their eyes and nod along.

"That sounds a lot like it used to be, only without the constant sounds of the sea in the background." Andy comments, and the boys quickly agree.

"So did you guys use to be pirates or something?"

"Nile, shanties have only been around for a little over 200 years, long after piracy was at its peak. But yes, we indeed had a pirating phase. Oh, Nicky, do you have your hoops lying around somewhere?"

"Okay, first of all, what hoops? Second, I need all of your pirate stories, like yesterday, and third, then how do you know shanties?"

"He's talking about my earrings from back then. And yes, Joe, I have them somewhere. I think in Spain."

"Only if you ask nicely."

"We were on some voyages to North America and back during the 19th century, when they originated and as we paid for the trips with our labour for most of them, we learnt them naturally."

"That particular one though, one of our mates from New Zealand I think taught us in our off time in the evening, when we were singing to spend the time."

"Do you remember any others? Can you teach me some?" Nile asks, as always curious for everything the other immortals can teach and tell her.

"Sure. Andy, why don't you make dinner tonight? I think a fire is a slightly better atmosphere for shanties and sea songs than our living room."

"Oh, and we can break out some of the wines in the cellar! Set the mood properly." Nicky rolls his eyes at Joe's comment, while Andy bares her teeth in a grin. Nile looks between them, trying to parse the conversation. Why would they need a fire for dinner? Can Andy even cook? She hasn't once in the time that Nile has been with them.

"Sure, why not? After lunch I'll take Nile."

"Wait, what? Take me where?" Andy just winks at her.

"You'll see."

And with that, the conversation was over. Or at least the topic of shanties and dinner.

After their, earlier than usual, lunch, Joe vanishes to the bathroom for a shower, and Andy takes off towards the armory.

"You should change into clothes you don't mind getting dirty or ruined. And put on your boots. We leave in 5."

Nile goes to quickly change, and when she comes back, Andy hands her a bow and quiver.

"Time for your first archery lesson, kid." She takes the weapons, and shoots Andy a puzzled looks.

"Andy, Nicky gave me archery lessons a few weeks back. Are you getting that old already?"

"Your first practical lesson out in the wild." Andy counters, willfully ignoring the jibe. And then Nile puts the pieces together.

"Wait, are we going hunting?" Andy doesn't answer, just grins in that feral way again, and marches towards the front door. Nicky sticks his head into the living room, when Nile follows.

"Have fun!"

A few hours later, Andy and Nile return to their house with a small deer across Andy's shoulders and two hares in Nile's hands. They round the house to the back, setting their game down on a sheet of plastic one of the boys has put out, and Nicky joins them with a selection of different knives and some bowls and containers, which he puts down on the table. In the stone circle in the garden a fire is crackling.

"Alright, time for your first lesson in how to prepare deer and hares." Nile nods slowly, mentally preparing herself for the task. Meanwhile, Joe is busy with keeping the fire going, and setting up a big pot above it. Nicky sends her off to the shower once they are done, and she tries not to run inside, glad to finally be able to wash off the sweat and blood.

That evening, they have dinner outside, sitting on the grass around the fire. Andy has made a stew with the meat.

"Why doesn't Andy cook more often? This is delicious." Nile asks.

"Oh, Andy can't cook with a stove to save her life." Joe explains.

"She used to cook more often back in the day, but she never got the hang of stoves." Nicky adds.

"Plus, I like to hunt the game myself, and it's not often I have opportunity for that."

They share some stories from their pirate days, and days at sea in general from all over their lifetimes, until they're full, and then they switch to songs and dances, teaching them to Nile.

As Joe had promised, they broke out the good wines, and as they continue to sing and dance, the bottles steadily grow empty while their voices and laughter fill the air.

**Author's Note:**

> Can someone please tell Luca Marinelly that I would very much like a recording of him singing this?  
> Also, I finally managed to include my headcanon about Andy's cooking skills! It was too little to put it into its own part, and I was struggling with where to put it.
> 
> The lyrics for the additional stanzas are from [this website](https://thelongestsong.fandom.com/wiki/Wellerman).
> 
> There is now a [three hour version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7IfKNhN1oQ) of this online! Now I don't have to listen to the same 4 video-playlist over and over with an obvious gap inbetween!
> 
> As always, kudos are appreciated, and comments make my day!


End file.
